This invention relates to a process of preparing disilane by reduction reaction of hexachlorodisilane with a mixture of metal hydrides in an organic liquid medium.
Disilane Si.sub.2 H.sub.6 is useful particularly as a raw material gas for producing amorphous silicon.
It is known that disilane is obtained by reduction reaction of hexachlorodisilane Si.sub.2 Cl.sub.6 with lithium aluminum hydride LiAlH.sub.4 in an organic liquid medium: e.g., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 69, 2692 (1947). However, this method cannot be regarded as favorable for industrial preparation of disilane because lithium aluminum hydride consumed as the reducing agent is an expensive material.